


Preparing To Turn Her Back

by lesbomancy



Series: Against the Occupation [1]
Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic
Genre: Balmorra, F/F, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-17
Updated: 2015-12-17
Packaged: 2018-05-07 04:34:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5443487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lesbomancy/pseuds/lesbomancy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sergeant Nirani Kellis pushes herself forward after more than a few encounters with a Balmorran resistance member during the planet's Imperial occupation. What she feels is right versus what she wants conflicts and she has to make a choice - treason or turning her back on someone important.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Preparing To Turn Her Back

Dark lights, soft music. Sergeant Kellis was out of her element, far removed from guarding freight and the occasional mid-value guest in Sobrik. This lounge was new, something she’d never seen on Ziost and populated with people who didn’t bother to turn to the door, a rarity on Balmorra since the occupation. Kellis didn’t know what to do with fearlessness, it was a quality that she would be shamed to admit she never had. She was a bad Imperial, a bad citizen and her body froze as it begged for her to turn back, to report this woman who contacted her and leave it at that.

It could be over in twenty minutes, an Intelligence operative would come and rip what she knew from her nostrils and it would all be over. She wouldn’t need to be afraid.

Kellis pulled her cap from her head, holding it close to her chest as her fingers crushed the fabric. Something compelled her to move forward, to cut through the disorienting lights and the soothing vocals of the Mirialan woman on the stage swaying her hips with each word. The booth she came to find was all the way in the back corner near the bathrooms, empty in spite of the place being filled to the brim with people, the sound of their quiet dining and utensils clanking made her jump as she passed by. She expected to be shot, every face she saw out of the sides of her eyes cast a look of disgust her way, an increasingly effective intimidating tactic.

She sat down at the booth, trying her hardest to look natural as the cushions threatened to absorb her slight frame. Kellis almost could hear her drop camp instructor shouting at her as if he were there, chastising her size unfitting of a proper soldier. She let go of her cap, the crumpled fabric landing softly on the table as she looked around. She was told to sit and wait for a server but with how busy it was she wasn’t sure that any saw her come in. Her stomach went and twisted into knots, an awful tightness in her abdomen that made the dark red lighting throb in her skull, the beginnings of a headache making itself known.

When a twi’lek man in a bow tie approached the booth Kellis nearly fainted from the shock of it all. She expected to be shot, though he offered the pass phrase as if it were the most natural thing for him to have said.

“You look like you walked out of a warzone. Need a drink?”

“I did. Give me something dangerous,” Kellis offered shakily.

The twi’lek poured water into a glass and put it before the Imperial, nodding silently before turning off to weave between tables. Kellis lost sight of him after one turn, her vision more than a little blurry. She grasped the perspiring glass with both hands, repressing the urge to vomit as she drank the entire thing to the last drop. It seemed to calm her some, at least her shaking stopped being accompanied by copious amounts of sweat. As the minutes passed and the singer went through two songs and ended her set she felt nervous again. Did she say the passphrase wrong? Did she sit in the wrong booth?

She watched the Mirialan retreat from the stage after some applause, a bothan man with a warm, sweet voice replacing her as he began his set. She recognized the song before the singer cut into the instrumentals, a Balmorran song of pride, a worker’s anthem. It was a code-song for dissent, the Imperial Governor had forbidden it’s play nearly two years ago in the midst of the occupation after a bar became a crucifixion site for the local Imperial patrol. Kellis began to wonder if that was the plan all along, if this was a trap to make her know she was going to be strung up before she was. She didn’t mind not returning to Ziost but the idea of not saying goodbye to her friends and family made her feel like puking all over again.

Then she saw her. One of the two top Lieutenants in the Balmorran Freedom Corps. Her dark hair was pulled up and she was dressed for leisure in a modest dress which gave more than a little leg and heels which pushed the woman from an already tall height (6’2”) to nearly seven feet tall. Her lips curved into a smile as she saw Kellis and she sat down without fanfare, leaning back in the obnoxiously plush cushions. Kellis wasn’t sure what entrance she came out of but she knew that Axele wouldn’t have given herself away so easily.

Kellis felt the tip of Axele’s platform caressing the fabric of her uniformed leg, cementing her decision to stay. She wanted to stay around her, she wanted to feel the intensity of her dark blue eyes burning holes into her. She wanted to lie to her own people and feed information to her, even if it got her in dear trouble.

“Hey, gorgeous. How’s my favorite Imperial?” Axele spoke over the music as if it were second nature, yet she still managed to sound like she was talking normally and not shouting over the horn and bass which were diving into full use in the patriotic jingle.

“Hell-.. hi. Hello,” Kellis wrung her hands together, pulling them into her lap. “I am.. well. Yes, very well. How are you, Miss Roschin?”

“About the same as always, though it looks like you reconsidered my offer.”

“I did?” Kellis stammered.

“Yes,” Axele said with a chuckle. “You did. Look where you are. You know what I told you.”

“The passphrase. To come in unif-.. in uniform. I suppose I did.. it.. it seemed like the right thing to do.”

“It is. You know what’s at stake, what’s happening to my world and it’s people.”

“I do, and I feel-.. I’m dreadfully sorry for that but it’s not.. it’s not the full ‘why’ as to why I am here.”

Axele rubbed the side of her foot against Kellis’ uniform, making a shushing noise. “I know. You really want an answer for that now?”

“I don’t know. I do but I understand that it isn’t pertinent to you.”

“Hush. You’re very pertinent to me. But-..”

“But?” Kellis said, sounding hurt.

“I need to know which docking bay it is and what door codes to use. You know that with the new EM jammer that we can’t slice into it without drawing attention.”

Kellis looked over across the lounge, watching each person eat and talk before she turned back. “I’m one of three people with the codes. They’ll find out.”

“You won’t if you’re more convincing than the other two. You’ve done this much, right?”

“I’ve never had to lie, especially not the a superior and possibly an inquisitor. They’ll sense my deception for sure.”

“Doubt it,” Axele said dismissively. The twi’lek returned to the table with two servings of braised nerf, a bottle of wine and two glasses. “He’s a drunk and I believe in you.”

“I.. I want more time.”

“You can’t have any.”

“And why the bloody hell not?”

“Because,” Axele said as she filled each glass and inhaled the scent of her own. “I won’t let any more humanoid cargo get off this damn planet, especially not if I have the power to stop it. You’re scared, I can’t take that away from you but try to remember that I’ve been scared longer. Your comrades are here to stay and we have the power to make sure that these people aren’t shipped off to be turned into slave labor. If we start now, while the occupation is young, we can show these people that there’s people still fighting. That they can’t win.”

“You’re talking about my comrades like they’re monsters. We’re just following orders, doing what we’re told to do!”

“As far as excuses go that’s a fairly common one. If you’re part of the system you’re part of the problem. I already cut down on the collateral like you asked. Now I need you to come through,” Axele paused. “Please, Nirani.”

“This is… I don’t want to do this. I really don’t. This could make things worse, they could increase security either of us could get caught.”

Axele scowled at her plate, eating with an intensity that spoke of unbridled rage directed at the nerf she chewed. Kellis had some, too, though it was clear her appetite wasn’t truly there. She drank two glasses of wine as they dined, eventually clearing her throat after the third glass was emptied. Axele had stopped touching her; always a bad sign with Axele. It inferred a true, lasting anger.

“Axele.. I..I’m so-..”

“You want an answer. About the reason you came here.”

“Wh-.. yes, of course I do. Why?”

“If you do this the answer is yes,” Axele said firmly. “But it’s no if you don’t do it.”

“Are you… serious? You would do that?”

“Without hesitation. There are some actions that you can’t apologize for. Allowing slave labor is one of them.”

“I suppose I don’t have a choice, do I? If-.. if. You would force me into danger.”

“You always have a choice. I’m asking you to stand up for my beliefs.”

“Then I’ll do it,” Kellis said as she sat up straight and picked up her cap. “I’ll be at the drop-off tonight, twelve past midnight.”

“Good girl,” Axele said with a smirk.

“I’m going to leave now.. will-... will anyone shoot me?”

“Nope. Everyone in this lounge is calm. It’s what I like.”

Kellis peeled herself out of the booth, her hand caught at the last moment by Axele’s.

“I’m proud of you, Nirani. For becoming who you really are. For doing this.”

“Be proud of me afterwards.” Kellis squeezed Axele’s hand before releasing it and walking off towards the entrance. The lounge singer went into his next set of songs as she exited, ready to commit treason. Wanting to.


End file.
